Let's Sup: California Chicken Patties

I'm not sure what school lunches are like these days, but when I was a kid, you lived for two days of the week: pizza and fries on Fridays and whatever day had the chicken patty on the menu. I felt like we were channeling those days a bit creating dinner tonight - the California chicken patty.

The secret to this rich ground chicken patty is making it like you would a beef burger: add lots of seasoning, breadcrumbs as a binder and an egg. Chicken doesn't have the same intramuscular fat as beef, making its patties much leaner and easier to dry out. So, by adding lots of moisture back to it, you lessen the chance that your chicken patties will turn into dry, bland examples of fowl play. The final product is a thick, juicy patty sandwich topped with ingredients inspired by the bright freshness of California agriculture.

CALIFORNIA CHICKEN PATTIES

Ingredients:

• 1 package ground chicken
• 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
• 1 egg
• Panko bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Goat cheese, softened
• Green Goddess dressing 
• Burger buns
• Salt and pepper

Eat up:

1. Get the grill heated up. We don't have a grill, so we turned on the good ol' George Foreman.
2. Mix the ground chicken, egg, adobo, salt, pepper and panko bread crumbs together in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. The mix should be slightly sticky and easily able to hold shape as patties. Add more panko until the mixture reaches a dry enough texture to hold its shape.
3. While the patties are cooking, toast the buns if desired. Slice the avocado and give your dressing a good shake.
4. Put one patty on each bun. Top with a generous schmear of goat cheese, a swirl of dressing and two avocado slices per sandwich.

This super-easy dinner is tasty with chips on the side. Not so much into eating a bun? Turn the patties into meatballs and serve drizzled with dressing, diced avocado and crumbles of goat cheese instead. 

Sammige: Turkey, Brie & Apple Panini

Maybe Daddy and I are the only ones in the world who use the word "sammige" instead of sandwich ... maybe not.

Sometimes I like to refer to myself as the "panini queen," because one of my favorite cooking things to do is find ways to turn meals into panini versions. There's something about that perfect grilled bread with melty cheese that makes my mouth water.

This is one of the first paninis I ever created, inspired by one I ate in downtown Augusta several years ago. The tangy sweet of the apple is balanced by the salty meat and brie (which will appear a LOT in this blog. I love Brie). It's a hit with my family and the friends who've had it as well, sooo, bon appetit!

TURKEY, BRIE & APPLE PANINI

Ingredients per panini:

• 2 slices wheat bread (not honey wheat, just a nine-grain or something)
• 3 slices turkey (if you're doing it straight off the bird, make it thin slices, not thick chunks of Thanksgiving turkey!)
• 4 slices Granny Smith apple
• Brie

Directions:

1. Prepare the Brie. Shocking, I'm sure, but I'm weird when it comes to putting Brie on sandwiches. I cut the top of the rind off (and then eat it ... oops) and hand scoop the soft cheese onto the bread.
2. Top the brie with apple and turkey slices.
3. If you want, add some more Brie as a top layer. Since I don't use butter or sauce on these, the melting cheese is what helps the sandwich stay stuck together.
4. Throw the whole shebang on the George Foreman until the bread is grilled and the cheese is melted. Depending on how cold your Brie was when you added it, this could take a couple of minutes.